Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T04:21:41.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of cereal concentrate supplementation on the digestibility of herbage-based diets for lactating dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

C. M. Arriaga-Jordan
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent, TN25 5 AH
W. Holmes
Affiliation:
Wye College (University of London), Ashford, Kent, TN25 5 AH

Summary

Two experiments were conducted, one with seven and the other with eight lactating cows, to measure the effect of supplementation with a cereal concentrate on the digestibility of fresh herbage and to provide equations relating digestibility of herbage to faecal indicators. Cattle were housed with free access to fresh herbage from individual Calan–Broadbent gates for recording feed intake, and faecal output was estimated by the use of chromic oxide. In both experiments a cereal supplement depressed herbage organic matter digestibility by 8 g/kg for each kg of fresh concentrate provided within the range 1–6 kg. The depression was associated with reduced digestibility of cellulose. Herbage digestibility was significantly related to faecal nitrogen and faecal cellulose. Herbage intake was depressed by concentrate supplementation and the response in milk yield to supplementation was small.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agricultural Research Council (1980). The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock, 357 pp. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Arriaga-Jordan, C. M. (1985). Studies on the response to supplementation by dairy cows at pasture. Ph.D. thesis, Wye College, University of London.Google Scholar
Carruthers, V. R. & Bryant, A. M. (1983). Evaluation of the use of chromic oxide to estimate the feed intake of dairy cows. NZ Journal of Agricultural Research 26, 183186.Google Scholar
Chenost, M., Grenet, E. & Demarquilly, C. (1981). Influence de la complémentation sur la digestibilité de l'herbe par le mouton, caracteristiques fecales dans le cas de la complementation. Paper presented at the IV European Grazing Workshop, Theix, France.Google Scholar
Corbett, J. L. (1978). Measuring animal performance. In Measurement of Grassland Vegetation and Animal Production (ed. t'Mannetje, L.), pp. 163231. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Crampton, E. W. & Maynard, L. A. (1938). The relation of cellulose and lignin content to the nutritive value of animal feeds. Journal of Nutrition 15, 383395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frame, J. (1981). Herbage mass. In Sward Measurement Handbook (ed. Hodgson, J., Baker, R. D., Davies, A., Laidlaw, A. S. and Leaver, J. D.), pp. 3970. Hurley: British Grassland Society.Google Scholar
Gill, J. L. (1978). Design and Analysis of Experiments in the Animal and Medical Sciences, Vol. I, 407 pp. Vol. II, 301 pp. Ames: Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Holmes, W. (1982). Grazing management. In Grass, its Production and Utilization, 2nd ed. (ed. Holmes, W.), pp. 125173. Oxford: Blackwells Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Jennings, P. G. (1983). Studies on the influence of supplementary feeding on the performance of grazing dairy cows. Ph.D. thesis, Wye College, University of London.Google Scholar
Jennings, P. G. & Holmes, W. (1984). Supplementary feeding of dairy cows on continuously stocked pasture. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103, 161170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joanning, S. W., Johnson, D. E. & Barry, B. P. (1981). Nutrient digestibility depressions in corn silage–corn grain mixtures fed to steers. Journal of Animal Science 53, 10951103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leaver, J. D. (1982). (Ed.). Herbage Intake Handbook, 143 pp. Hurley, U.K.: British Grassland Society.Google Scholar
Leaver, J. D., Campling, R. C. & Holmes, W. (1968). Use of supplementary feeds for grazing dairy cows. Dairy Science Abstracts 30, 355361.Google Scholar
Mathieson, J. & Davidson, J. (1970). The automated estimation of chromic oxide. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 29, 30 A31 A.Google Scholar
Meijs, J. A. C. (1981). Herbage Intake by Grazing Dairy Cows, 264 pp. Wageningen: PUDOC.Google Scholar
Milne, J. A., Maxwell, T. J. & Souter, W. (1981). Effect of supplementary feeding and herbage mass on the intake and performance of grazing ewes in early lactation. Animal Production 32, 185195.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1975). Energy allowances and feeding systems for ruminants. Technical Bulletin No. 33. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1976). Nutrient Allowances and Composition of Feedingstuffs for Ruminants, LGR 21. Pinner, Middlesex.Google Scholar
Mitcheson, R. C. C. (1969). Determination of nitrogen in malt and barley using the Technicon auto–analyser. Technicon Symposium No. 40.Google Scholar
Morgan, D. E. & Barber, W. P. (1979). The adviser's approach to predicting the metabolizable energy value of feeds for ruminants. In Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition (ed. Haresign, V. and Lewis, D.), pp. 93106, London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Phipps, R. H., Bines, J. A., Fulford, R. J. & Weller, R. F. (1984). Complete diets for dairy cows: a comparison between complete diets and separate ingredients. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103, 171180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staples, C. R., Fernando, R. L., Fahey, G. C., Berger, L. L. & Jaster, E. H. (1984). Effects of intake of a mixed diet by dairy steers on digestion events. Journal of Dairy Science 67, 9951006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, S. & Campling, R. C. (1976). Relationship between digestibility and faecal nitrogen in sheep and cows offered herbage ad libitum. Journal of the British Grassland Society 31, 6972.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J. & Egan, A. R. (1979). Quantitative digestion of fresh herbage by sheep. V. The digestion of four herbages and prediction of sites of digestion. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 84, 453458.Google Scholar
Vadiveloo, J. & Holmes, W. (1979). The effects of forage digestibility and concentrate supplementation on the nutritive value of the diet and performance of finishing cattle. Animal Production 29, 121129.Google Scholar
Wanyoike, M. & Holmes, W. (1981). A comparison of indirect methods of estimating feed intake on pasture. Grass and Forage Science 36, 221225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zoby, J. L. F. & Holmes, W. (1983). The influence of size of animal and stocking rate on the herbage intake and grazing behaviour of cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 100, 139148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar